Report 4 - Life at the Intersection: Intersectional Case Studies of Women Entrepreneurs

This report sheds light on the experience of women’s entrepreneurs who experience ‘disadvantage’ and who are in the early stages of start-up or are experiencing struggles with growing their enterprises. We present a collection of case studies developed from 64 interviews held in the period 2019 to 2023 as a part of the European Regional Development Fund Project, Accelerating Women’s Enterprise.

The 22 case studies in this volume portray the experiences of women entrepreneurs, their resilience and struggles in early start-up and business growth in both France and England in the Channel Region. The case studies focus on:

a) the founders’ profiles and background descriptions,
b) founders’ motivations for starting their ventures,
c) the challenges faced in setting up, with a focus on intersectional
aspects where relevant and
d) the strategies adopted by founders to build their businesses.

Key themes identified are related to the tensions and additional barriers that were created by the intersecting identities of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, social status, disability and place. The subsequent impact this has on women founders’ entrepreneurial processes and their access to resources and legitimacy within the broader ecosystem, is also highlighted.